


With Nothing In-Between

by prototyping



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Platonic Romance, Prompt Fill, Romance, i never claimed to be good at titles, if that makes sense to have both, let them be happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 07:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7747915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prototyping/pseuds/prototyping
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She released his arm, leaving him notably colder than before, to set her hands on the railing and look down at the dark depths. Terra found himself watching her rather than the scenery: her pleased smile, the sparkle in her eyes as she studied the old buildings reflecting on the water’s surface, the way she tucked her hair back when the cold wind picked up.</p>
<p>Request fill for some happy Terra/Aqua. Modern AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Nothing In-Between

“Wait right there, don’t move!"

Terra froze in a heartbeat, midstep and right hand still outstretched. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hold back a smile and a second later Aqua chuckled. “I said don’t move! That includes your face.” Despite her objection, there was a brief and semi-blinding flash as she took a couple shots, anyway. “All right, you’re good to go.”

Letting out the breath he had unconsciously been holding, Terra continued his retreat from the iron fence and pocketed his hands. “Again? Shouldn’t you be out of space by now?”

“That’s what a backup SD card is for,” Aqua chirped. Even so, she tucked her phone away inside her purse, leaving her empty-handed for the first time all day. “But I think I’ve got enough for today.”

“I think you’ve taken enough for the whole trip,” Terra pointed out.

“Well, I _did_ promise Ven I’d keep him updated.”

“I know, I know. But he was jealous enough already. You sure this won’t make it worse?”

“Maybe a little,” she admitted as she pulled her gloves back on. “We’ll make it up to him when we get back.”

Terra gave a brief exhale of a laugh, his breath misting as soon as it met the evening air. It wouldn’t take much to cheer Ven up; he’d just be glad to have them home again in a few weeks. Still, none of them ever shied away from a night out together, so it would be a good excuse.

But until then, Terra and Aqua were virtually on their own. They were only two of nearly a dozen students on this trip, but other than classes in the morning and the bi-weekly dinner hosted by their coordinator, they stuck to one another’s company where possible.

And being their first weekend since the exchange program started, they were taking the opportunity to really explore the Brussels streets -- and, of course, taking plenty of pictures to send back to Ven. Their promise aside, it was obvious Aqua was loving the architecture. Most of their walk was in comfortable silence or easy chatter, but if Terra pointed out this building or that archway, she always had some piece of lore to offer up.

With her purse straightened away, Aqua moved to his side and slid her arm through his once more, leaning against him to both offer and take some body heat. “So, anything else you wanna see tonight?”

“I think we’ve already seen the two places I could name,” Terra admitted. “So I don’t really have anything specific in mind, no.” He felt her shake with a quiet laugh.

“Why don’t we take the long way back by the waterfront, then?”

That sounded good to him, so they made their way down to the river and from there began to follow it south. It was a little quieter here, enough to hear one another at a casual volume. They took their time as they went, not as rushed to get indoors as other tourists were. It was cold, certainly, but spending much of their young lives in the mountains had left them more resilient than most. It was too chilly to be comfortable, but they could stand it.

When they came to a bridge, Aqua redirected them towards it. She released his arm, leaving him notably colder than before, to set her hands on the railing and look down at the dark depths. Terra found himself watching her rather than the scenery: her pleased smile, the sparkle in her eyes as she studied the old buildings reflecting on the water’s surface, the way she tucked her hair back when the cold wind picked up.

“It’s… so different, isn’t it?” she murmured. “It’s like a whole other world.”

That was a good way of putting it. Smalltown kids that they had been, no amount of studying compared to actually being in a city so different from theirs, let alone that of a country halfway around the world. But while Ven’s absence was unfortunate, having each other through this trip made it that much more comfortable.

“Then there are a lot of other worlds out there besides our own,” he replied. “Hard to believe.”

“Mm.” It was a cheerful hum as Aqua continued to take in the sights.

Terra felt his phone buzz and ignored it -- but then pulled it out a moment later, swiping past the text message to open up his camera. “Wait right there, Aqua,” he said suddenly, intentionally mirroring her same tone from before. He saw her tense briefly in surprise, and then she relaxed again as she tried to keep her smile subtle. “See? Not so easy, is it?” he teased.

She chuckled, but did a good job at keeping still. “It’s pretty dark, though. There’s not much to see.”

“There’s enough,” he assured her. The backdrop was pretty much black, sure, but her white coat stood out enough to make for a good picture of her. With his phone put away again, Terra stepped up behind her and reached around to also take hold of the railing. With a wider smile she looked back at him, placed her hands atop his, and leaned back against his chest, setting her head on his shoulder as she looked up at the sky.

“You can’t see as many stars here,” she observed.

“Missing home already?”

“No...” A pause. “Yes,” she admitted, sending him a sheepish look. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad to be here. And it’s great that we were both picked for it.”

“But it’s not the same,” Terra surmised. “And we’ve never been this far away before. Or for this long. And you’re worried about Ven.” Aqua chuckled again and tilted her head, her temple against his neck. He had guessed right. “Well,” he offered, “don’t worry about Ven, at least. He can take care of things while we’re gone. And we’ll be back before you know it, so just enjoy yourself in the meantime.”

For about a minute neither of them said anything. Terra was content to just hold her weight as he looked down the river, noting the darkening windows in the nearby hotel and the thinning number of people in the streets. It was getting pretty late.

Aqua broke the silence and stillness, standing straight to turn around and link her arms loosely around his neck. For a few seconds she just studied him casually, comfortably, and he held the look. “You’re right,” she told him confidently. “There’s nothing to worry about.” Her smile quirked. “If I get like that again, just pinch me next time.”

That made him laugh. “Nah. I can’t blame you. If this was a few years ago, I’d worry, too.”

With another low hum Aqua leaned up to kiss the end of his nose -- and then looked surprised. “You’re freezing,” she laughed, but it sounded concerned, too. She drew a hand back and pinched his nose playfully, wrinkling her own as she felt the cold through her glove. “You want to catch a taxi?”

He shook his head, giving a negative answer as well as breaking free of her fingers. “It’s fine,” he said. “Besides, I’ve got a better idea.” Without warning he leaned down to bury his face in her neck, nudging past her scarf so that his cold skin met her warm.

Her fingers tightened sharply on his shoulders as she bit back a yelp, but it came out as a laugh instead, and then again when his arms tightened around her to keep her from pulling away. She probably felt him smiling, because she smacked his arm lightly. “Terra! I’ll get you back for that!”

There was no doubt that she meant it. The three of them did have a competitive streak reaching as far back as they could remember, so he could probably expect icy hands up his shirt sometime next week when he least expected it.

Terra considered a teasing remark, or putting cold fingers on her throat as well since he’d already earned her vengeance -- but he could tell Aqua was still tensed, probably expecting something along those lines and prepared to reciprocate. So Terra reconsidered.

And instead, he gave a light, slow kiss to the side of her neck.

He heard her breath catch -- and then it released again just as quickly in a quiet, shy laugh. “That doesn’t make up for it,” she told him, although her voice wasn’t as firm as it could have been.

He only kissed her again, higher, where her throat curved up into her sharp jawline and her skin was much cooler. Aqua shivered, her next inhale shaky -- but then she pulled back, just far enough to fix him with that authoritative stare that he knew so well, the look unaffected by her smile or the shade of pink in her cheeks.

“What?” He didn’t mean for it to come out so pseudo-innocent sounding.

Aqua shook her head once, dropping the look, and leaned in close with her gaze downcast. When she didn’t say anything for a few heartbeats, Terra gave her cheek a gentle nuzzle and she broke into a small grin. “Nothing,” she assured him. “I’ve just been thinking… about how lucky we are.”

“You mean the trip?”

She shook her head again. “No -- well, I guess that’s part of it. I’m glad we’re both here. But… we’ve always been really lucky. So many people split up or move away, and then they grow apart… but the three of us have always stayed together. It feels like we’re beating the odds, somehow.”

“We’ll keep beating ‘em,” said Terra easily. Aqua finally looked up. Even though the stars were much scarcer here, he still caught a glimpse of their shine in her bright eyes -- or maybe he was just so used to looking in them that he saw the shine regardless. “I think getting this far was the hardest part, you know? I’m sure the rest won’t be easy, but at least we have a direction to go in. And if we don’t like it, we’ll pick a new one.”

Aqua’s expression softened and she gave another small laugh. “Mm,” she agreed.

“And hey, besides--” Terra gave her forehead a nudge-- “you’re the one who came up with the good luck charms, remember? You’re the last one who should be surprised that they’re working.”

She bobbed her head lightly. “An unbreakable connection,” she recalled fondly. “I’m glad you remember.”

“Hey, give me some credit. Ven remembers, and he was only five.”

With her smile as the only warning, Aqua suddenly stood up on her toes and kissed him. It was light and gentle, like always, but it lingered longer than he expected. When she finally drew back, the cold air almost hurt compared to the warmth of her mouth. “Six,” she corrected, sounding slightly out of breath.

For a moment he stared at her, still stuck in the moment gone by and having no idea what she was talking about. “...Oh,” he realized after several awkward seconds. “Yeah. Right. Six.” He cleared his throat as he glanced away. Giggling quietly, Aqua slipped her arms inside his coat and around his sides to huddle in close to his chest. He folded his coat around her and kissed the top of her head, and for a moment they stood in a comfortably warm tangle. “...Six?” he repeated uncertainly. “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Huh.

“You ready to head back?” he asked after another pause. His nose was stinging with cold again, but this time he just leaned down into the top of her shoulder. He heard her sigh, a sound that was both content and reluctant, and he figured he knew what she was thinking. The downside of the university dorms was that they couldn’t casually share a couch as they often did on colder nights back home. They would have to part until morning.

At length Aqua pulled away, but she found his hands and held them as she stepped back. Once again she was all cheerful smiles, her expression warm enough to -- almost -- make up for the lack of contact. “Let’s go.”


End file.
